


Terminal Station

by NanakiBH



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Altered States, Aphrodisiacs, Denial of Feelings, Double Penetration, Established Relationship, Exhibitionism, Gangbang, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Self-Acceptance, Stomach Deformation, Tentacle Monsters, Tentacle Sex, Voyeurism, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Wet & Messy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 06:35:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11823228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanakiBH/pseuds/NanakiBH
Summary: Some desires manifest in unusual ways. Akira's, for example, became a tentacle monster.





	Terminal Station

**Author's Note:**

> Mara exists, therefore, I had to write this.

Lately, all nights seemed to be rainy when Yusuke was around. But that wasn't a bad thing. Akira had always liked the rain. It meant soothing background noise during class, cooler temperatures in the summer, and atmospheric walks beneath an umbrella.

It was nice, having someone who he could experience those kinds of moments with. He used to fear that his sentimental feelings for such mundane things would be too embarrassing to share with anyone, yet it was like fate had matched him up with the one person who was guaranteed to always understand those feelings.

 

While he was sitting on the floor, Yusuke was sitting on the bed on his knees, looking out the window with his arms resting comfortably on the sill. The sound of the rain nearly lulled Akira to sleep, but he occasionally turned around to have a look at Yusuke's excited face. He seemed to be able to appreciate even the smallest things. At the back of his mind, Akira worried that he understood where that appreciation was born from; having so little made it necessary for him to find ways to entertain himself without needing to spend money.

He didn't want Yusuke to feel like he needed to deprive himself of anything anymore, though.

If he saw something he wanted, Akira wanted him to have it. If there were somewhere he wanted to go, he wanted to take him there. He wanted him to do whatever he wanted to do and be whoever he wanted to be.

That desire was also one he deeply held for himself. Perhaps, Akira thought, by releasing Yusuke from the chains that bound him, he would find the way to release his own.

Seeing him smiling so genuinely, so different from the person they first met...

Was he evolving like that, too?

He hoped so...

Just as Akira's eyes began to close again, beckoned toward sleep by the sound of the rain, Yusuke left his place at the window sill and slid down to sit next to him on the floor. Half-conscious, Akira leaned against him, resting his head on Yusuke's shoulder. What he always imagined to be a romantic pose was less comfortable than expected when he was so close in height to the person he was dating, though. Kinda disappointing.

“How romantic.”

Well. At least Yusuke liked it. It was the thought that counted.

It was hard for Akira to keep his eyes closed once he began to feel so aware of their closeness. With his eyes half-lidded, Akira slipped his arm under Yusuke's and traced his fingers along the soft underside of his arm and loosely fit their hands together.

He opened his mouth to speak but was seized by a yawn first. Rubbing his cheek against Yusuke's shoulder to wake himself up, he looked up at him. “Hey,” he mumbled. “You aren't bored?”

“Bored...?” He seemed confused at first, but then a concerned crease formed between his brows. “Are you bored, Akira? I'm sorry I didn't think to bring an activity with me this time.”

Akira hadn't even noticed until he mentioned it. It wasn't a big deal, though. He enjoyed the things Yusuke brought over – they were always engaging and interesting – but he also enjoyed their companionable moments of silence. He wasn't able to do that with anyone else. Yusuke didn't demand his attention.

Leaning his head back against the bed, Yusuke stared up at the ceiling and Akira followed his gaze to the star-shaped stickers on the rafters.

“I wish we could watch the stars together,” Yusuke said. “The real ones. I enjoyed the planetarium, but I would really like to see what the stars are like back in your hometown. You came from the country, yes? I bet the sky must be beautiful out there...” He frowned sadly. “Apologies. That isn't a feasible idea for tonight.”

Akira couldn't help but laugh. “That's alright. We'll just have to save that idea for the future.”

“Hm. Okay.” Yusuke sat up a little straighter, careful not to dislodge Akira from his place on his shoulder. “The bathhouse, then.”

“...The bathhouse?” Akira sat up so he could look at him. It was about time he escaped from that position, anyway – his ear was going numb. “I... Actually, that's not a bad idea, but I think we might want to wait until it stops raining.”

Yusuke nodded understandingly, eyes closed, fingers held to his chin. A second later, he looked up with a promisingly confident glimmer in his eyes. “Let's go to Mementos.”

It took just a single second for Akira to get his hopes up and to have them dashed. The sun was setting and the moon was already visible in the sky. “It's sort of late for that, isn't it? I don't think the others would be ready to assemble.” Then again, he was the only one with a bossy cat enforcing a strict curfew on him.

“Actually, I was speaking of just you and myself. I'm interested in drawing your Personas. I frequently get to see them up close, but with the way you arrange the main infiltration party, I don't have the time to put down my sword,” Yusuke explained.

Akira felt himself blushing. “Sorry... My favoritism is showing, isn't it? You deserve a break once in a while. I'm surprised the others haven't yelled at me for always picking you.”

“It's alright. Beside you is where I wish to be,” Yusuke said, placing a hand over his heart as he looked at him with an affectionate smile. “To be of use to the one I love is my own desire.”

Squeezing his eyes closed, Akira clutched his chest, his heart twisting almost painfully, bursting with a sudden overflow of emotion.

Madarame had been a fool to ignore the treasure he had right in front of him. Apart from a strange request here and there, Yusuke didn't ask for much. For each minute of attention he was given, for each cup of coffee and pack of snacks, Akira was repaid with beauty and seemingly bottomless admiration and devotion.

Akira put his arms around his knees, trying to contain his feelings. If he had a little less restraint, he might've thrown himself at Yusuke, but he knew better than that. Regardless of how easy it was for him to swing around a heavy sword, Yusuke's body was very bruiseable.

If they continued their Phantom Thieves business, maybe he'd gain some muscle...

“Akira?”

“Hm?” He'd been spacing out, it seemed. “Don't mind me. Just thinking... Maybe you should work out with me.”

“Work out? Oh, right now?”

“I wasn't talking about tonight,” Akira explained patiently, giving Yusuke a little playful poke on the forehead. “If we were going to work out, I'd let you know ahead of time so you could be prepared. Since I'm out of ideas, Mementos will be fine. You just want to draw some of my Personas, right?” They weren't going to need the others if they weren't going to do any fighting. He and Yusuke had gone there alone before.

Yusuke nodded enthusiastically, eyes sparkling.

Pushing himself up, Akira stood and started heading toward the edge of the stairs to grab his bag. “'Kay. Let's get going, then. Even if we're careful, we shouldn't stay out too late. Sojiro will get mad at me if I'm not back before he closes the shop.”

Sojiro was obligated to record everything for his probation. Regrettably, Akira knew that even the most harmless mistakes could be blown out of proportion and used against him as 'behavioral transgressions' in court. He couldn't afford any more mistakes if he had hope of returning home.

But did he really care about going back home and to his old school anymore...?

 

Dangerous thought.

 

There was no Yusuke in that place. No Phantom Thieves. Just that clear country sky, deep black at night, swallowing the brightness of countless stars in its emotionless void.

 

'Beautiful'...?

 

Bag over his shoulder, Akira returned to where Yusuke was sitting and grabbed his wrist – maybe a little too forcefully. He didn't mean to. But he noticed the way his grasp made Yusuke wince. He didn't mean to. But he wanted to grab him, to wrap his fingers around him tightly, to keep him clutched in the center of his palm so he could take him with him.

 

That was an even more dangerous thought for reasons he didn't want to acknowledge.

 

“Yusuke?”

A moment passed and he was still waiting for Yusuke to get up, his fingers closed around his thin wrist. As he stared at the profile of Yusuke's face, turned away from him, partially hidden beneath his hair, he noticed that there was a faint redness in his cheeks...

“R-Right...” Still faced away, Yusuke placed a hand on top of the one around his wrist, melting away Akira's firm grasp with the gentleness of his touch. “Let's go, Akira.”

Yusuke got up and retrieved his own bag from Akira's desk along with his sketchbook. As he headed toward the steps, Akira looked down at his hand, spreading out his tingling fingers, then looked up to watch Yusuke's back as he walked away. He didn't have him in his hand anymore, but he could still feel him.

When Yusuke stopped near the top of the stairs and turned around, his eyes were smiling, his face clear of whatever it was Akira thought he'd seen a moment earlier. Like the remains of a vague, lingering dream, Akira questioned whether he'd really seen anything there at all. It could've just been his imagination.

Yet...

He flexed his fingers.

They went down the steps together and passed through the shop, promising Sojiro that they'd be back soon. Morgana was out taking a walk somewhere. If he found out where they were planning to go, he probably would've wanted to accompany them, but Akira thought it was going to be best if they were alone. It sounded like Yusuke wanted them to be alone.

 

They took umbrellas and began heading for the station.

 

Yusuke suddenly seemed much quieter.

 

As they walked side-by-side, Akira kept looking at him, trying to read the look on his face. It was possible that he was simply lost in thought, but Akira couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed in that moment before they left the attic. The hand he used to hold his umbrella was still tingling with an anxious feeling. He didn't know what it was or what it meant or why it was suddenly there, and he wondered if he was the only one experiencing it.

“Yusuke-”

Ah. He jumped.

“Y-Yes?”

He had no idea what Yusuke was on edge about, but Akira was glad that he wasn't the only one. Walking under two separate umbrellas made it awkward to get closer, but he did his best, switching hands so he could get nearer and trace his fingers over the back of Yusuke's hand. With a satisfied smile, he watched as Yusuke shivered and clutched his hand in the other one already holding his umbrella.

It was still too soon for them to hold hands in public, worried about who might see them. It was a whole different type of concern at night; even if they were Phantom Thieves, there were real people around them who were even more troublesome than Shadows. Concerns aside, though, it looked like Yusuke wasn't ready for that level of public affection, anyway.

So maybe that was why he reacted that way.

Akira cursed himself internally. He really should've asked him about it when he had the chance. Letting time pass just made it awkward and there was a possibility Yusuke wouldn't even know what he was talking about. Or he'd deny it.

“...Is something wrong?” Yusuke asked.

Akira pushed his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes and shook his head. “Nope. No problems here. You were just being quiet, that's all.”

Yusuke turned his head away, looking here and there – anywhere but at Akira. “I was just-...!” His voice came out too loudly which was suspicious, to be sure. He coughed in an almost comical manner to clear his throat before continuing. “I was just looking at the way the rain is reflecting. Everywhere you look, it seems to make everything look different, doesn't it? When it's raining, even a place as small as Yongen-jaya can shine like Central Square.”

Akira made a skeptical sound, still suspicious. He could've sworn Yusuke had something else on his mind, but he believed that his artist's eye was focused on the surrounding atmosphere. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Akira looked around at the buildings that closed in tightly around them on either side and tried to see what Yusuke could see.

It really was quite beautiful, looking at it that way...

The few lights from the shop fronts and streetlamps made unique reflections in the rain that touched every corner of the street. Akira didn't have to look up to know that he wouldn't see anything in the sky but a foggy haze, yet, looking down at the puddles around his feet, the lights almost looked like a reflection of the night sky; bright stars swaying in the ripples, the bottoms of his shoes leaving invisible footprints in an imaginary milky way.

“You're amazing, Yusuke.”

Yusuke stared at him. “...Did I do something?”

“Of course,” Akira laughed. “Do you think the average person can see things the way you do? I walk down this street to get to school every day, and I've never thought about the way it looks or how it makes me feel, even when it's raining. I'm always just focused on getting where I'm going. We live in the same world, but it's like you see a more beautiful version of it. That's amazing.”

“I don't know if it's _that_ special,” Yusuke mumbled, clearly trying to deflect such praise. “That much is something anyone can do. You don't have to be an artist. You just have to look at things with your heart.”

Back when he first met Yusuke, that kind of comment would've sounded corny and made him laugh at him, but getting to know Yusuke made Akira realize how sincere he was when he said things like that.

“Like I said, you're amazing.”

Before Yusuke could argue with him, Akira hurried along. They were almost there.

 

Once they were at the station entrance, they both closed their umbrellas and went down the steps, holding onto the railings so that they wouldn't slide on the slippery stairs.

 

It was late and raining, but it still came as somewhat of a surprise to find themselves alone.

 

“There's no one,” Yusuke observed, inching closer to the tracks to look down the dark tunnel. “Must we go to the usual entry point in Station Square? Waiting for the train seems unnecessary when it would be such a short ride from here. That is, I think we might be safe if we entered Mementos from this spot. Being alone is also to our advantage.”

“You have a point. Nice thinking, Fox. Being on a platform should take us directly to a rest area.” There was no guarantee that he was right, but it sounded logical.

Holding his umbrella under his arm, Akira took out his phone and opened the Metaverse Nav. Once he was sure that Yusuke was also ready, he began the navigation and they were sucked into Mementos.

 

That was a sensation he'd never get used to...

 

“Oh!”

 

Akira looked up, feeling slightly worried when he heard Yusuke's sound of surprise.

He and Yusuke were in their Phantom Thieves disguises, and although the platform they were standing on looked similar to the one in the real world, the eerie, pulsing veins climbing the walls around them made it clear that they'd made it to the other world.

“Oh. So we really did make it to a rest area.” He probably shouldn't have worded it like that. He didn't want Yusuke to realize that he hadn't been confident about the jump.

Yusuke was oblivious, though. He ran inside the covered booth and set his umbrella down across the seats, then ran back out with his sketchbook clutched excitedly in both hands. Amused, Akira shook his head and also went to place his umbrella inside the booth. However, when he returned, he noticed a concerning change in Yusuke's expression. The excitement to draw that had been there a moment ago was replaced by a pensive sort of look.

“I knew you were thinking about something.” As soon as the words left Akira's mouth, he bit his tongue and silently berated himself for being a hypocrite. There was something on his mind, too.

“Earlier, before we left the attic, I...” Hugging his sketchbook to his chest, Yusuke glanced aside. “I've been thinking, because I feel so at ease with you at your place...”

“You're ready to give up the dorm and move in at Leblanc?” Akira asked, feeling stupidly hopeful.

At first, Yusuke paused, looking surprised by the idea Akira proposed. He quickly regained his composure, sweeping the hair away from his face. “N-No, that's not what I was thinking. As nice as that would be, I think it would be inappropriate for us to spend that much time together, considering our relationship.”

He should've known better than to open his mouth without thinking...

Though, once Akira got over his embarrassment and thought about what Yusuke said for a moment, he began to realize what he was really saying. “I guess I see what you mean... There's a lot in my schedule, and we're still figuring out who we are. If we spent all of our free time together, we wouldn't have time to develop ourselves. That's very mature of you. So then, what were you actually going to say? Wasn't there something else?”

“Well... A-After we graduate... Would you be opposed to finding a place with me?” he asked nervously. When he didn't receive an immediate answer, he started gesturing wildly with one hand, spouting things to try to convince him. “I-It would be purely symbiotic! It's much more economical for two people to share a place together. I would do everything within my ability to help out.”

So... They had been thinking about the same thing.

He didn't want to leave Yusuke, and Yusuke didn't want to leave him. He was already thinking about their future together.

“I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens,” Akira said, stepping closer to Yusuke. He came to a stop when their toes were nearly touching. “Right now, we're Phantom Thieves, but I wonder how long this will last... Pretty soon, we'll be third-years. Even if we carry on, we're going to have to think about our lives in the real world. Moving forward together... sounds nice.”

It was a very reassuring thought. The future felt uncertain ever since his arrest, but as long as he had Yusuke with him...

There were other things he had to think about – things that were supposed to be important – but none of it seemed important enough anymore to make him loosen his grasp on the one who he'd found. A new priority was born inside of him from his own conviction; the first he'd ever made for himself. He didn't care about what his parents would think about his decision. The same as he chose to help that woman, he was going to continue making his own decisions, no matter how naïve or foolish.

“I would love to eat your cooking every day...” Yusuke said dreamily, his gaze distant as if deep in his imagination. “Oh! But! I do enjoy cooking! It's been so long since I've had the opportunity to cook for myself.”

Akira recalled him mentioning that, once. While they were working their way through the long and winding tunnels of Mementos, making small talk to distract themselves from the creepy noises outside the Mona Bus, Yusuke mentioned a penchant for cooking, though he admitted that he couldn't cook if he couldn't afford it.

“I could buy the ingredients, you could cook with them,” Akira said. “That sounds like a fair arrangement to me. I'll be looking forward to it.”

“Th-Thank you, Akira...” His grateful smile was interrupted, soured by a memory. “You see, when I lived with Sen-... When I lived with Madarame, I always made dinner. He'd give me a generous allowance for the groceries, so I'd buy the best ingredients and make magnificent spreads. But... I was only allowed small portions for myself.”

“Hm? But you're the one who made it.” A terrible thought occurred to him. “So he really was starving you?”

Yusuke shook his head frantically to deny the idea. “N-No, I figured that it made sense because it was his money.” After saying that, though, it was like he'd backed himself directly into the truth. He paused and stared blankly at the ground, eyes wide, brow pulled together. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. “He always bought me so many supplies, though...”

That was the sound of denial; an excuse for someone who didn't deserve defending.

He'd been used. Madarame provided Yusuke with all the tools he'd need for making art – but only because he thought of Yusuke's art as his own property, not out of kindness or generosity or anything like that. The money he spent on him was simply a maintenance cost; the minimum to keep his personal art machine functioning.

Just thinking about it was nauseating. Akira couldn't imagine what it had to be like for Yusuke to discover the lies within his memory.

“Now you understand why things were the way they were, right?” Gently, Akira touched Yusuke's shoulder. “I hope you'll always remember that none of that was your fault. You don't have to keep justifying any of his terrible actions.” He lightly tightened his hand and clenched his back teeth, trying to keep his feelings from getting the better of him. “You know how I feel about food. I'm sure you poured your heart into every one of those meals you made for you and Madarame. It just... makes me so mad to think that he could've eaten the food you made without realizing that.”

Every plate of curry he made for Yusuke was prepared with love. It would've been so painful if he spent all that time awaiting his approval just to find out that he didn't care...

“Thank you, Akira.” Lifting his mask, Yusuke dabbed at the corner of an eye with the heel of his palm to wipe away some unshed tears, then he placed his hand over Akira's and gave it a squeeze. “I'm sorry. You're probably tired of hearing me say that all the time.”

Akira smiled. “Not at all. Your thanks is more than I could even ask for.”

And it was all he wanted – Yusuke's happiness.

Leaving him alone absolutely wasn't an option.

He'd make sure that there'd never be another Madarame.

Feeling the sudden sting of nails threatening the side of his palm, Akira blinked and looked into Yusuke's eyes and felt his heart nearly stop, paralyzed by the serious, straightforward emotions that confronted him. Yusuke wasn't looking away that time. His cheeks were a little red like before, but his eyes were focused, the strength of his grasp almost forcefully adamant with its meaning.

Yusuke didn't want him to let go.

“You'll... keep looking out for me?” he asked.

“You don't have to hold on so tightly,” Akira said, gently easing away the hand that was grasping the one he had on Yusuke's shoulder. “I won't let go unless you ask me to.”

“F-Figuratively speaking...?”

Akira nodded.

After a moment, Yusuke relaxed and tiredly leaned against him, putting his arms around Akira's waist in a loose hug. “That's good,” he said quietly, his lips near to Akira's ear.

Putting a hand on the back of Yusuke's neck, Akira played with his hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “So,” he said, leaning back after a comfortable moment, “we came here so you could draw my Personas, didn't we? Got any specific requests? I'm only able to keep a number of them within me before I need to release a few. Can't have too many. It'll get cramped.”

That concept seemed too hard for Yusuke to understand, but Akira couldn't blame him. As far as Akira knew, there was no one else who could relate to his unusual ability to hold multiple Personas. If there were any other people out there with that power, he would've loved to meet them. They would've made awesome thieves.

Stepping away, Yusuke leaned against the side of the covered booth with his sketchbook and procured a pencil from somewhere inside his suit. “There was one you obtained within Madarame's Palace... 'Inugami', was it?”

“Sorry... That one's already gone. I'd have to summon it again from the...” Was there any point in telling him about the compendium? The Velvet Room would've been too hard to explain, and he wasn't sure Yusuke would believe him if he wasn't able to see it with his own eyes. “N-Nah. It would take too long. Have another in mind?”

“Makami?”

“...Are you only interested in the ones that look like animals?” He didn't have that one anymore, either. He was starting to feel like he was disappointing him.

Yusuke nodded, then glanced aside in a way that reignited Akira's suspicion. “I see. Then what about that Persona you used recently?”

“Which one?”

“The one Ryuji made fun of.”

Akira didn't have to ask twice. He knew exactly which one he was talking about. In fact, there was no way he could forget. “A-Are you sure you want to see that one? It's grotesque, isn't it? I don't think you'd want to draw something like that-”

“I want to draw that one.”

Akira closed his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to win. But he was going to try. “I have other Personas, though. It doesn't have to be that one. How about a Persona from the Priestess arcana? Lovers and Empress are also very attractive.”

He'd make a trip to the Velvet Room if he had to, even if it was inconvenient.

“Arcana?” Yusuke asked, holding the end of his pencil against his bottom lip curiously.

Apparently he hadn't explained that to them yet. There hadn't exactly been a reason for him to explain it, though. They understood about things like type weaknesses and ailments, but arcana assignments didn't have a bearing on battles. That information was only relevant for performing fusions. Explaining it didn't seem necessary, and it probably would have just confused them if he told them that each of them represented an arcana of their own.

In the meantime, he was going to have to tell him _something._

“It's how my Personas are categorized. D-Don't ask how I know which arcana they belong to... It's a long story. I'm sure I'll explain it eventually. Now, why don't I show you the other ones I have with me right now?”

Dammit.

Yusuke looked super disappointed.

“It can't be that one?” he asked. His tail drooped sadly. “Are you ashamed of it? You may have many Personas, but they're each a part of you. Are you not going to use it anymore because Ryuji laughed at it? Discarding it would be like ignoring a part of yourself.”

Akira couldn't figure out why Yusuke was so interested in that particular Persona, but he was clearly determined to have his way.

It was true – Akira was kind of ashamed of it. Each one of his Personas said something about him, and some of them even had a bit of a mind of their own. It would've been really troublesome if that one said anything incriminating in front of the others. Letting them see its hideous form was bad enough. But it also had quite, a... uh... _mouth_ on it.

When he released a sigh of defeat, Yusuke brightened. “You'll show me?” he asked, smiling from ear to ear with his sketchbook anxiously held up to his chin.

“Fine...” Akira muttered. Spreading his feet apart, he removed his mask and called out, “Come forth, Mara!”

The large Persona materialized behind him, taking up almost the entire width of the narrow platform. Akira seriously couldn't understand why Yusuke wanted to draw it. He could barely bring himself to look at it. It possessed some fairly powerful skills, but it didn't feel worth the embarrassment of summoning it. Ryuji seemed to think it was funny, but the girls all gave him such dirty looks when they saw it. It was humiliating.

“Mara, huh?” Yusuke nodded, looking positively intrigued by the spectacularly disgusting creature.

It tilted its bulbous head around as if inspecting the area despite having no eyes to discernibly see with. “Mmm? Oh, I've finally been summoned! I thought for sure I was gonna be trapped forever. Feels so good to be free!” It turned its attention toward Yusuke, wetly licking its lips in a manner that could only be described as lecherous. “A guy...? Eh, who cares! I can get it up for a face that pretty, no problem!”

Sweating bullets, Akira glared at the thing and prayed that it would shut up quickly. He wasn't tall enough to put his hand over its mouth. Nor was his hand big enough...

Yusuke lowered his sketchbook and tilted his head, looking confused. “Are you talking about me? Indeed, I am a male. Do you find something strange about that?”

Akira narrowed his eyes and stared at Yusuke.

Did he... not realize what Mara was?

No, judging by the way he was talking earlier, he had to know. Still, it was difficult for Akira to stand back and watch the two oddballs have a conversation. Decoding Yusuke's train of thought was hard enough at times. Adding Mara to the mix only made things more outrageous. He had no idea what they were going to do.

“I could've sworn I was only into girls, y'know?” Mara gave a shrug of sorts with its four arm-like appendages. “But that was back when I was just a Shadow. Once I rejoined with the Master, my horizons were broadened, you could say. I ain't got nothin' to complain about. It's just kinda weird to think about how I'm just a part of him. My past is his past. My feelings are his feelings. So what I'm sayin' is, if I get real nasty on ya, it's all his fault, 'kay?”

“Just... Let me die,” Akira said weakly, sinking onto one knee.

Heedless of Akira's suffering, Yusuke put his sketchbook under his arm and came forward, curiously walking around the Persona to inspect it. “Ah, I see... I thought so. You're a representation of Joker's sexuality, aren't you?”

“I'm dying here!”

“Yeah, somethin' like that,” Mara said.

“Isn't anyone paying attention to me?”

Yusuke flipped his sketchbook to a fresh page and raised his pencil. “S-Such virile masculinity...”

“That's it! I'm sending him back where he came from!” Quickly getting back on his feet, Akira was prepared to recall his Persona, but he was immediately stopped in his tracks, physically restrained by two long tentacles.

“Now, now, Master, I can't have you doin' that. I just came out. Lemme breathe a lil', won'cha? The boy looks interested in me, so let him do his thing. I promise, I'll go away as soon as he's satisfied.”

“Am I being threatened by my own Persona...? You can't do that.”

The tentacles tightened around him threateningly. “Oh, I can. I suggest you accept it and let me do as I please. You know what happens if you reject a Persona, don'cha? I could turn back into a Shadow.”

“Hey, that's not-...!”

He didn't think that was how it was supposed to work, but he also couldn't say for sure whether Mara was lying. Morgana had told them that they didn't have to worry about their desires becoming distorted after they awakened to their Personas, but he was different from the others. He had multiple Personas, many of which began as Shadows that needed to be coerced. Even if he accepted them once, if he began to reject them, then it made sense that he would start to lose control over them.

As gross as it was, he couldn't go against it.

Whether he liked it or not, it was a part of him.

As Mara laughed, the tentacles began to relax, slowly releasing him. “That's it. You've been fighting me all day. Just give in. You'll thank me later. I'm looking out for your best interests, too, y'know.”

Once he was freed, Akira patted down his sleeves and straightened out his outfit. He shuddered when he noticed the thin layer of slime that was left behind by the tentacles.

He'd let Yusuke draw it. Then, once Yusuke was finished, he'd quickly make Mara disappear and they could go back home.

Feeling unreasonably frustrated, Akira swept back the long tails of his coat and strode toward the wall. Yusuke was already busily putting pencil to paper, glancing from Mara to the page and back again as he worked to capture its likeness. Leaning against the wall, crossing one leg in front of the other, Akira resigned himself to watching, internally praying that Mara wasn't going to do anything extreme.

...Who was he kidding?

Mara was definitely going to do something. They shared the same mind, so it was impossible for Mara to act independently. It wasn't lying when it said it was acting in his best interest. It restrained him because he couldn't let himself reject it.

But what was he resisting?

And why was he afraid of letting Yusuke see it?

As Akira let those questions simmer, he tried to relax and watched Yusuke draw. He looked like he was really enjoying himself. His pencil glided across the page as he worked, excitement lighting up his expression.

From the start, Yusuke should have realized that he wouldn't have Inugami and Makami in him any longer. It'd been a long time since he'd released them. Even if Yusuke just wanted to see them, he should've realized that they couldn't be summoned from out of nowhere. If Yusuke knew that he couldn't summon those two, it didn't make sense for him to ask.

It was strange that Yusuke didn't have any problem with Mara, and the fact that he wanted to draw it seemed even stranger. It didn't fit his aesthetic at all.

An unusual possibility began to emerge – the possibility that Yusuke was lying.

“I know you weren't really interested in drawing any of my other Personas,” Akira said, carefully watching Yusuke's face. He wasn't even convinced that Yusuke wanted to draw Mara. Drawing it was just the excuse he used to make him summon it. “So are you going to finally tell me why you're so interested in Mara?”

Yusuke's pencil slowly came to a stop, but he didn't look up.

He stayed quiet.

Mara chuckled. “Come on. You know why.” One of its long, green tentacles slithered along the ground, snaking its way toward Yusuke's feet. Yusuke didn't flinch away as it moved up his leg, caressed its way over his side, and coiled around one of his arms, wrapping itself tightly around his wrist. “You're remembering now, aren't you? Holding on so tightly... So tightly, you were afraid of hurting him...”

“That's...”

He remembered.

Back at Leblanc, there was something about that moment that had bothered him. Something about the look on Yusuke's face had worried him, too.

It made him feel... scared.

Without turning toward him, Yusuke glanced up, hesitantly meeting his eyes. “It scares me, too... How much I like this part of you.”

Another one of Mara's tentacles rose to bind one of Yusuke's ankles, but Akira didn't try to stop it. Whether or not he ordered it, Mara was only doing what he wanted it to do. Seeing it in all of its gruesome glory, given such a form and made so literal, he couldn't help but feel afraid of it, but, inside, he knew that Mara shared other things in common with him like his deep love for Yusuke and his desire to protect him.

It wouldn't hurt him... Probably.

That sliver of uncertainty was what bothered him. It disturbed him, knowing that there was a part of him he didn't have full control over. His desire to protect Yusuke had the potential to become something very dangerous.

The tentacle around Yusuke's wrist tightened further and a second one joined the first, seizing Yusuke's other wrist, causing him to drop his sketchbook. Akira opened his mouth, but, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to tell it to stop. Hearing Yusuke's soft cry of surprise made his whole body suddenly feel like it was burning. As he watched him, feeling uncomfortably anxious and aroused by the unpredictable situation, the tentacles continued to move on their own, fueled by his warring feelings, writhing lewdly around Yusuke's arms and legs.

Unable to simply stand and watch, Akira approached them slowly. “What did you mean? What part of me are you talking about?”

He already knew. He just couldn't believe.

Struggling against one of the tentacles, Yusuke brought a hand to his chest where he closed a fist over his bare neck as if grasping for something. “You've seen it, haven't you? There's a part of me that wants to be confined. It's horribly ironic, isn't it? You fought to release me, and yet I long to return to my cage like a dog that lost its master.”

Akira realized what he was talking about. Even Yusuke's own Persona exposed a part of him he was ashamed of, evident in the collar and lock it wore around its neck.

“But I'm not... I wouldn't...”

But he did.

He loved how pitiful Yusuke was. It made him so endearing. He loved being the only person who cared enough about him to offer him a place to stay. He loved feeding him and taking care of him because he knew that Yusuke would keep coming back like a stray, gradually becoming more and more dependent upon him. The thought of being separated from him was enough to make Akira shake in fear, terrified that Yusuke would find a way to live without him, or worse – that he'd replace him with someone else.

None of his intentions were as pure and righteous as he thought.

“I'm sorry, I...”

It was too hard to keep denying it. The truth was right there in front of his eyes, having taken the shape of that horrible thing, made real in each of the tentacles it used to trap Yusuke's body. Yet, despite its unsightliness, Yusuke had willingly allowed himself to be bound by it and even appeared to be enjoying its touch.

Mara chuckled. “Just give it up, already. Listen to the boy's moaning. Does that sound like someone who's suffering to you?”

Body lax, supported entirely by the tentacles Mara had wrapped around his limbs, Yusuke turned his head against his shoulder and looked at Akira, his eyes half-lidded beneath his mask. “You should give this a try for yourself,” he said. He laughed a little, aware that Akira would never. “It's fine. It's fine because I trust you. If there were reason for me not to trust you, I'm sure I would have discovered it here. This Persona of yours... Its appearance may be foreign and frightening, but I haven't felt threatened this whole time. It knows just how to hold me without hurting me.” He wiggled his feet off the ground. “And this is kind of fun. It feels like I'm weightless.”

“That's cuz you don't weigh much, kid,” Mara said, demonstrating how easy it was to lift him by effortlessly raising him farther off the ground.

With the panic in him settling, Akira was able to relax somewhat. He looked between Yusuke and Mara, feeling suddenly like he was an uninvited guest. “You two do seem awfully cozy. Does this mean you were aware of all of this before I was?”

“I apologize for not broaching the subject sooner,” Yusuke said. “After Madarame, I had a lot to think about, like how lost I felt... And how desperate I was to cling to you. I thought that I was just using you and acting as a burden until I noticed this part of you.”

“So you're cool with me wanting to own you or whatever?” Admitting that out loud took a lot of effort, but it also didn't make him feel better.

“Do you, though?” Yusuke stared at him as Mara rocked him gently, only breaking focus when he needed to stop his mask from falling off his face when Mara tipped him back a little too far. He straightened up quickly and Mara allowed him to stand upright, placing him back on his feet. “See?” he said, waving his arms after they'd been freed. “You'll let go if I ask you to. You said so earlier. I don't feel trapped with you like I was with Madarame.”

Akira felt foolish for having worried. The reason he was afraid to acknowledge Mara as his Persona was because he was afraid of those strong feelings within himself – those feelings that made him so possessive of Yusuke. He'd been afraid that he wasn't so different from the person he'd help Yusuke escape from.

Thankfully, Yusuke was a step ahead of him, having already peered into his heart to confirm that he was worth trusting. Knowing that made it easier for Akira to trust himself.

“So...” Mara lifted a tentacle and placed the tip of it on Akira's shoulder to have his attention. Akira grimaced at it. “Whaddya say, Master? Wanna double-team this bitch with me?”

Akira didn't even have a proper response for that. He swatted the offending tentacle off his shoulder with a disgusted noise. “Who taught you to speak that way?”

“You did.”

“I did not!”

“But look at him,” Mara said, gesturing its tentacles at Yusuke's disheveled, flustered appearance. Akira was more concerned about the way Mara was using its tentacles as hands when it had perfectly good hands it could be using instead. “He's like a bitch in heat, ain't he? He already compared himself to a dog. Just let him have this. Besides, do you know how awesome it feels for me to meet somebody who doesn't laugh or scream as soon as they see me? I've been waiting for this.”

“I don't want to know what that's supposed to say about me,” Akira muttered, staring blankly at the ground.

At some point, Yusuke found his sketchbook and had resumed drawing, oblivious to their bantering. Akira didn't doubt that it'd be a great drawing, but he prayed that Yusuke wouldn't show it to anyone. If a teacher saw it, he'd probably get in trouble for it.

After quickly finishing some details, Yusuke closed the sketchbook, ran inside the booth to set it down safely, then returned looking just as red-faced and ready as before.

“Let's do it.”

Akira looked between them. “Are you serious?”

“If I'm serious, then so are you,” Mara said.

A high ground apparently didn't exist. Arguing with it was utterly pointless.

'Double-team' him... Akira didn't know what Mara planned to do with him, but it sounded obscene.

Naturally, as Akira allowed a few R-rated thoughts into his mind, Mara's tentacles began to approach Yusuke again – Yusuke, who, tail wagging, looked very eager to also find out what Mara planned to do with him. One of the tentacles reached toward Yusuke's chest and dexterously curled around the zipper-pull at the front of his outfit. Yusuke fidgeted anxiously as it began to lower the zipper inch by inch, exposing the perfectly pale skin underneath.

It was just Mara...

That thought began to seem more reassuring. Mara was a Shadow Akira had tamed himself. It wasn't like Yusuke was at the mercy of some wild thing he didn't have control over. With just a little more concentration, he realized that he and Mara were indeed on the same wavelength; all of its movements were precisely what he imagined.

When one of the tentacles dove inside his outfit, Yusuke let out a loud cry that echoed off the walls around them and all the way down the tunnel. It was a good thing they were alone in a safe place, otherwise a sound like that would've aroused a little more than just the attention of some Shadows. The damp sliminess of Mara's tentacle must have felt shocking against his skin, but Yusuke did his best to hold in any additional noises as it probed around beneath his unzipped outfit.

“Still, this is pretty surprising, even for you,” Akira said, hands on his waist as he watched Mara's tentacles writhe around Yusuke's body. “Does this mean we were right when we first pegged you as a pervert?”

Yusuke just stared. “You know I'm not.”

Akira stared back. “You sure? This situation says otherwise. How come you're the only one who can look at Mara?”

“Cuz he likes me,” Mara said, appreciatively giving Yusuke a whip on the behind. “Ain't that right?”

“R-Right,” Yusuke replied through clenched teeth, unable to completely mask his embarrassment.

Squinting at the two of them, Akira made a skeptical sound. “Well, if you like it, I guess it doesn't matter if I think it's nasty.” He came closer and patted the side of Mara's chariot. “Alright. Let's do it, partner.”

“Aye aye, captain!”

“You're really going to do it?” Yusuke asked, sounding apprehensive on top of surprised for some reason. Apparently he just liked flirting with the idea of getting it on with a giant tentacle monster, but being faced with the real possibility gave him cold feet.

It was a bit late for backing out, though. Mara already had a tentacle between Yusuke's thighs, giving him a direct taste of what it could offer, letting the slimy side of its long tentacle course along his skin. As soon as Yusuke felt it, he leaned forward, doubling over in the weakest attempt to hide his arousal. It had already been apparent for a while, so there was no point in trying to hide it. Watching him was enough to make Akira feel worked up, but he was experiencing more than just the sight. Perhaps due to the link he shared with Mara, he could feel everything it was doing. Every touch Mara gave Yusuke was translated to Akira's body in a mutual sensation of pleasure.

“Don't just stand there, man. Help me out,” Mara said, giving a shake of its head as a gesture for him to come closer.

Akira really wished it wouldn't do things like that. It had zero sense of shame about its appearance.

“Don't order me around. I know what I'm doing,” Akira said. Maybe it was just reading his mind and encouraging him to act on his desires. That made a disturbing amount of sense.

Akira walked around Yusuke and placed his hands on his shoulders from behind to help him take off his suit. Mara released Yusuke's arms, allowing him to remove the sleeves. Yusuke even helped by taking off his own gloves, which proved that he wasn't as opposed to what they were doing as he made it seem at first. Under everyday circumstances, their situation would've been nothing more than an absurd daydream, so it was only natural that they'd both feel embarrassed about making it a reality.

Akira's fingers twitched anxiously as he reached Yusuke's waist and saw the trail of slime left on his skin from Mara's tentacles. He quickly untied the sash around Yusuke's waist and unclasped his tail, half-expecting it to come to life in his hands. It stayed completely still, though; just an ordinary accessory when separated from Yusuke.

“This outfit is such a pain,” Akira grumbled. “I really have to work to uncover the treasure.”

“Mm. Indeed. As a thief myself, I know how to keep my treasure secure,” Yusuke said, sounding proud of himself and the frustrating design of his outfit. That just made Akira feel more determined to get it off of him.

Stopping at his waist, leaving it hanging around Yusuke's hips where the zipper stopped just short of revealing any sensitive content, Akira got down on a knee and began working off Yusuke's boots.

“Even those?” Yusuke asked.

Looking up from where he was on the ground, Akira raised a brow at him. “How else am I supposed to get all of this off?”

“I could've torn through it,” Mara suggested.

“You aren't doing that,” Akira said, turning to direct his stare at Mara. “I'm a _gentleman_ thief.”

His hard work was worth it and his patience paid off. Letting Mara tear through Yusuke's clothing would've probably made Yusuke terrified. He claimed to trust it, but he was obviously still a bit wary of it, especially once it began to get serious. After helping him remove his clothes carefully, he looked considerably more comfortable. All that remained was his mask.

“Boy, what a feast,” Mara said, huffing hungrily at the sight in front of it. It looked like it was getting riled up, more of that slime beginning to appear on its body like sweat, rolling down the length of its... neck.

“Wh-What do you plan on doing with me?” Yusuke asked, his voice sounding hesitant yet also curious, excited to hear its intentions verbalized in graphic detail.

Mara lifted a number of its tentacles toward him and wrapped them around his arms and thighs. Yusuke had been trying to make himself more modest by crossing his arms over his chest and pressing his thighs together, but Mara wasn't going to allow that. It wanted to see every explicit inch of his body. Although a part of Akira was still nervous and wanted to look away, he knew that Mara's desire was his own. He wanted Yusuke like that, too – all of his limbs spread, held apart to keep him from hiding anything.

With Mara under his control, handling Yusuke was like handling a doll... There was something inherently voyeuristic about the power he held over him, and Akira couldn't help but feel a little dirty for enjoying it.

At last, Akira reached out with his own hand to touch Yusuke for himself, gently tracing his gloved fingers along his thigh. Mara lifted him higher for him, positioning him nearly horizontally with his legs spread far apart. Yusuke couldn't even move his hands to hide the bright red of his face, his hands both captured out at his sides. There was one tentacle wrapped firmly around his chest to keep him evenly supported, writhing just shy of his nipples.

Drawing his tongue over his upper lip, Akira ran his fingers from Yusuke's thigh to his hip, watching, pleased, as his touch made Yusuke's body shiver.

“Sorry,” he said, catching Yusuke's eyes, “we never told you what we were going to do. First...”

“Oh, Master, you're letting me get dibs? That's so kind o' ya,” Mara sang. It lifted a tentacle at Akira's command and rubbed the tip of it over Yusuke entrance, surprising a cry from his throat.

“It's not like it's Yusuke's first time,” Akira said teasingly, moving his fingers higher, dancing them across Yusuke's quivering stomach. “We've already done it plenty of times, and now that you and I are on the same page, doing it with you is no different than if he were doing it with me.”

Mara chuckled and nudged the tip more firmly against Yusuke's entrance, coming close to breaching him, teasing him with it. Altogether, the width of Mara's tentacles weren't that thick – no wider than one of Akira's wrists. Still, that was going to be a lot for Yusuke to take all at once. It was a good thing they were already wet with slime. Mara was doing Yusuke a favor by getting him relaxed with some external stimulation.

“He's saying this stuff for you, by the way,” Mara told Yusuke. “I already know all this.”

“You know, I'm also curious about what you're capable of,” Akira said, turning to Mara with a sly grin. “You seem to know everything about me, but I don't know you so well. I guess you could say that there's a lot for you to teach me about myself. With that in mind, why don't you show me what you're made of, Mara? Since we've come this far, show us just how strong my desire really is.”

“Oh, gladly!”

Yusuke's arms flexed, straining against the tentacles binding his wrists. “Wai-...!”

His voice was silenced instantly, his back arching mid-air, head thrown back, eyes wide, mouth open in a breathless cry. As soon as Mara penetrated him, Akira clenched his hands into fists, so tight that he could feel the sting of his nails against his palm through the leather. The feeling was intense. He could imagine how tight Yusuke was as if he were feeling him with his own body, and yet... It wasn't enough. It was just a phantom sensation – it wasn't going to be enough. But he wanted to keep watching, just for a while. He wanted Mara to expose the depravity of his desire and show him how much of that desire Yusuke was willing to accept.

“Hurt?” Akira asked, lightly placing his palm against Yusuke's cheek. He could imagine the feeling for himself, but he knew that it had to be totally different for Yusuke, being the one on the receiving end.

Eyes closed, jaw clenched, Yusuke took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly to steady himself. When he reopened his eyes, he looked up at Akira confidently. “N-No problems here!”

Akira didn't quite believe him, especially when he lost his composure the second Mara began to move again. Another one of its tentacles wrapped around Yusuke's waist and pressed him down onto the one inside of him, impaling him on it. That time, the cry that Yusuke had withheld earlier was finally set free.

“S-So deep!” he gasped, desperately trying to move his arms to take purchase somewhere.

Akira took one of Yusuke's hands and used his other hand to touch him, gently smoothing his palm over his stomach. Despite the overwhelming desire that was welling up inside of him, he also couldn't ignore his need to comfort Yusuke. Driving him to his limit was supposed to be the goal... Letting his desire run wild, showing Yusuke how fierce and dangerous he really was...

Mara's tentacles had to be long enough to rip through Yusuke's body. There was no doubt that they could do him serious harm, and yet...

Even as Mara swore and made other vulgar sounds, it wasn't losing control. The tentacles restraining Yusuke's limbs were still maintaining their reasonable grasp, somehow still focused on Yusuke's comfort despite having the opportunity to act freely.

“I guess this means you were right, Yusuke,” Akira admitted quietly, laughing softly under his breath. “I really would never hurt you.”

Weakly, Yusuke turned his head to look at him and smiled. “Of course.”

He'd never betray that trust.

“Master,” Mara huffed, its tentacle pulsing in and out of Yusuke's body. “Hey... Hey, Master... What happened to double-teamin' him with me, huh? At this rate, I'm gonna blow.”

“Well, don't. Keep it together. I'm still holding my composure, aren't I? You can, too.” Akira tapped his foot, surveying the obscene scene in front of him. “I can sort of feel what you're feeling, so I can tell how tight he is. I don't know if we'll both be able to fit. Think you can do something about that for me?”

Mara raised another tentacle. It was a good thing it had so many of them.

“N-No way,” Yusuke stuttered, watching with a look of disbelief and mild horror on his face as Mara started nudging the tip of the tentacle around the edge of his stretched entrance, trying to squeeze its way between the first tentacle and the tight ring of muscle.

Mara hummed in frustration as it continued nudging, ultimately giving up for the moment. “Loosen up, will ya, kid?” he said, plunging his first tentacle into him more deeply.

Yusuke's body seized, his limbs becoming uncontrollable as Mara pushed it into him deeper and deeper, twisting it and wriggling it around inside to forcefully loosen him. Akira had to wonder what it felt like for Yusuke. His own body was suffering from the link with Mara, and seeing Yusuke's stomach bulging and contorting with the movement of Mara's tentacle made him feel aroused in a way he didn't exactly feel proud of.

“Are you sure it doesn't hurt?” he asked, smoothing his hand over Yusuke's stomach, swallowing thickly when he felt Mara press up against his palm from the inside.

Yusuke didn't seem to be in a position to answer. A delirious laugh was the only thing that made it from his mouth along with a line of drool that escaped from the corner of his mouth.

“Don't worry about him,” Mara said. “My tentacles are coated in a powerful aphrodisiac. He'll probably be real sore later, but he can't feel anything but pleasure right now. If you wanted, we could keep him here forever and use him as our own personal fuck slave.”

“I'm only going to acknowledge what you just said as an invasive thought. We aren't doing that,” Akira said, lip curled in disgust at Mara's shamelessness. Even if a thought like that crossed his mind, Akira would've never mentioned it out loud – especially where Yusuke could hear. Thankfully, Yusuke didn't seem to hear them. He didn't even look capable of paying attention anymore. His body had gone totally limp in Mara's grasp, allowing him to do as he pleased with the tentacle inside of him.

When the second tentacle finally returned for another try, Yusuke tried to speak. His mouth opened, but, predictably, no words came out. His stiff cock twitched against his stomach and he moved his hips as if begging for more. It was hard to believe that he would seriously want more when he was already stuffed with one tentacle, and yet...

The tip of the second one finally made it between. Seizing the opportunity, Mara thrust it inside along the first. Instantly, as if on command, Yusuke came, struggling and shouting, painting his stomach and chest with cum.

Akira could feel it. The sensation of Yusuke's body trying to close around the twin tentacles inside of him was so strong, so tight, it almost made Akira collapse. Neglected for so long, his own cock was aching, but he choose to ignore it a little longer. Yusuke needed him.

Getting up, he steadied himself behind Yusuke and held out his arms, and Mara lowered him down as gently as it could while still shaking with tremors of intense pleasure. It let go and Akira held him, wrapping his arms around him from behind.

“Are you okay?”

At first, Yusuke looked at him blankly, dazed, his eyes hazy. Slowly, they began to clear and he smiled up at him. “Mm. Yeah...” He nuzzled his cheek against Akira's chest, messily wiping drool across the front of his suit. “You saw... I... I really let you see me in such an undignified position...”

When Yusuke's smile began to falter, when his shoulders began to tremble, Akira held him more tightly and kissed his cheek. “You didn't look undignified to me at all. I'm glad you feel good.” He gave him another kiss, pressing his lips to the corner of Yusuke's mouth. “Would you like to feel both of us now?”

He felt Yusuke's lips quirk into a nervous grin against his.

That was all the response Akira needed.

Entrusting Yusuke to Mara, Akira unfastened the front of his pants and took himself into his hand, feeling extremely grateful to finally be free from their confinement. After getting a taste of what it felt like thanks to the link with Mara, he was ready to sink his teeth into the real experience.

Another hoarse chuckle crept out of Yusuke's mouth as he looked over his shoulder at Akira. “You look like an animal ready to pounce on its prey. I mentioned it earlier, didn't I? Mara's overwhelming masculinity... I understand where it comes from now. It isn't simply sexual desire. It's a result of your confidence in yourself. Being sensitive and compassionate, strengthening your sense of self... That's what makes the ultimate man as well as the ultimate lover!” Yusuke nodded emphatically, his eyes glistening brightly with the fanatical shine of a... true artist.

“Is that what you were thinking about this whole time?” Akira asked.

“Indeed. A personal exploration, if you will.”

Akira knew better than to feel relieved, knowing that Yusuke used everything as inspiration.

When he stopped for a second and thought about what Yusuke had said, however, he realized that Yusuke had indirectly paid him a huge compliment.

Putting his arms around Yusuke's waist, he leaned in and kissed the back of his neck. “I'm like this because of you. All of that stuff you just said... I learned that from you.”

What a clueless Emperor.

The reason Yusuke cut such an imposing image in battle was because of his confidence in himself. It had nothing to do with the length of his sword.

“Seems like helping each other must be the best way to help ourselves, then,” Yusuke said.

Seeing the two of them having a moment, Mara stuck out its tongue and made a gagging noise. “Too romantic. If you two wanna cuddle, you better call out a different Persona. I ain't here for this. You're gonna make my tentacles go limp.”

“Limp?” Yusuke repeated, lowering one of his freed hands to touch his stomach, feeling around for the bulge of them inside him. “They're already quite flexible, aren't they?”

It was frankly impressive how unbothered Yusuke was by all of that. Mara's slime must have also been very effective at numbing pain.

Noticing that Mara had lowered Yusuke's feet onto the ground, Akira wondered if Yusuke would be able to stand on his own. However, the moment he allowed Mara to loosen the few tentacles that supported him, all of Yusuke's weight fell back into his arms.

“You look exhausted.”

“I-I'm not,” Yusuke insisted. He moved as well as he could within Mara's grasp, pressing himself back against Akira's chest, rubbing his backside against his cock. “I can keep going. We've already come this far. D-Don't tell me you're going to make me beg now?”

Looking down and seeing the tentacles Mara still had inside of him made Akira feel irrationally jealous. The time for worrying about the absurdity of the situation had already passed. There was only one thing left to do.

“No,” Akira said, grasping Yusuke's hips. “No more waiting.”

The second of the tentacles inside of Yusuke withdrew, startling Yusuke but allowing Akira the chance to take its place. The second Akira thrust up into the cramped space between them, he was able to tell the extreme difference between the real thing and the cognition conveyed to him by Mara. The feeling of Yusuke's tightness and the slimy wetness of Mara's tentacle was almost enough to make him lose his balance, but he forced himself to remain upright. He wasn't about to let himself lose control and let Mara do as it pleased with him too.

A part of him wished that he'd also removed his clothing. The heat he felt coming from Yusuke's back was something else. Between the heat and the tightness wrapped around him, it was getting difficult for him to think. Something was fogging up his head...

“Feeling it, Master?”

Oh.

“Shit...”

He couldn't stop. He couldn't pull out. And he didn't even want to despite realizing that he was also falling prey to Mara's aphrodisiac.

Yusuke leaned his head back against Akira's shoulder. “It's incredible, isn't it? It feels like you're everywhere, all over me, inside of me...”

Akira closed his eyes and grasped Yusuke's hips harder, trying desperately to keep himself grounded. In spite of his best efforts, his hips kept moving on their own, thrusting into him relentlessly. At the back of his mind, he hoped he wasn't hurting Yusuke, but the look of pure bliss he noticed in his eyes erased all worry from his mind and cleared his thoughts, leaving room for nothing but the crazed need to stake his claim upon Yusuke's body from the inside out.

Every part of him... The slippery, sweat-slicked skin beneath his gloves, the heat inside of him, the equally fiery passion that came from within his heart...

Of course he was possessive of him.

He loved him.

That was why, if he was going to be Yusuke's owner, he was going to be the best he could be; an attentive, considerate owner who pampered his beloved pet and heeded his every beck and call.

When he felt Yusuke pressing back against him, pitifully trying to keep moving when his body lacked the energy, Akira tried to steady his pace for him, making Mara slow along with him. It looked like Yusuke had something to say, but he didn't need to say it. The fingers clutching the arm Akira had wrapped around Yusuke's chest was enough to make him get the idea.

He and Mara were doing a good job – perhaps _too_ good in some regards – but they were both too focused on the rhythm. Yusuke, having already come once, looked like he was desperate for release – not just an end, but a conclusion; the finishing touch on the lurid scene they'd been painting.

Akira was right there with him, but he already had his hands full. With just a glance at Mara, the Persona understood what he wanted it to do. It extended one of its tentacles toward Yusuke and coiled the thin, tapered end around his cock. Feeling it wrapping around him, Yusuke's hips bucked involuntarily, thrusting up to meet it, then fell back roughly onto Akira's cock when he once again lost his energy.

Nothing was going to change Akira's opinion about Mara being disgusting, but he had to admit that it was good at its job. Yusuke looked like he was in heaven, head tossed back, eyes glazed as occasional moans and mumbles slipped past his lips. Not only could Akira feel Mara's tentacle rubbing against his cock as they thrust into Yusuke together, he was also treated to the lewd, wet sounds produced by all of its tentacles. That should have also struck him as disgusting, yet it only served to stoke the burning need inside of him, drawing him closer to climax with every obscene squelch, forcing him to imagine the way it felt for Yusuke.

In the position they were in, he didn't even feel concerned about holding on. If anything, he was more concerned about whether Yusuke was receiving too much. He looked like he could pass out at any second, his face red all the way down to his chest.

“Yusuke,” he softly said, lips against Yusuke's shoulder, forgetting all about the need for code names. It was just a whisper, and if it reached anyone's consciousness, then that was fine. Akira was okay with letting the whole city know that Yusuke belonged to him. That name belonged on his lips.

“A-Akira...!”

Alright, that was a little loud. Loud enough to make Akira worry that his name would be on the minds of everyone at school the next day.

“Agh, me too, Master, I'm gonna...!”

Way to ruin the mood. Though, Akira was grateful that Mara was thoughtful enough to warn him first. Before Mara could lose it, he made it withdraw. When it did, feeling the full length of its tentacle withdrawing from deep, deep in his belly, Yusuke's knees buckled and he came instantly, cum spilling over the tentacle wrapped around his cock.

Akira pulled out at the last second and came across Yusuke's back while holding his hips, mind blanking out as the backs of his eyelids were filled with grainy static.

When his thoughts began to clear, he tried to move and almost slipped on the ground. Yusuke looked like he could collapse right there, but Akira wasn't going to let him fall into a whole puddle of that slime. It was probably dangerous enough that his bare feet were touching it.

Since his coat was already a mess, he took it off and draped it over Yusuke's shoulders. He was still dazed, wobbling unsteadily as Akira moved him back toward the waiting booth.

“Hey,” he tried. “Are you alright? Can you hear me?”

Yusuke blinked and nodded numbly, following along with each of Akira's steps, letting himself be led. Carefully, Akira helped him take a seat next to where he left his sketchbook. Although it felt rude to stare, he looked Yusuke over to check his condition. Surprisingly – and quite thankfully – his body didn't display any changes, as if he hadn't had two huge tentacles all up in his stomach. He just looked exhausted, which was understandable, seeing as how Yusuke wasn't the most physically fit individual.

“I'll go get your clothes. My coat's already a mess, so I don't mind if you use it to wipe that stuff off,” Akira said, gesturing to the slimy mess covering the inside of Yusuke's thighs.

Arms resting limply at his sides, ankles apart, Yusuke just nodded. It looked like he was going to need another minute to recover.

In the meantime, Akira left the booth and returned to where Yusuke left his things.

“Hey.”

Akira pointedly ignored the giant cock monster that was trying to speak to him and went about gathering Yusuke's clothes, grimacing as the heels of his shoes sunk into the gelatinous puddle of monster goo.

“ _Hey_ ,” it said more insistently. “Are you gonna ignore me now? After all that? After what we've been through together?”

“Don't put it like that,” Akira said, shuddering.

It was about time for Mara to go back home.

“Well, hey, it was fun getting to know you.”

“This wasn't a date, Mara.” With Yusuke sticky clothes in his arms, Akira straightened up and stared at Mara and... was surprised by how sincere it looked – as sincere as a tentacle monster was capable of looking, of course. Its head was bowed, its four clawed hands all politely held together.

A train loudly passed by the platform.

The silence that followed in its wake made Akira uncomfortably aware that he needed to say something, because, in a way, though he hated to admit it... Mara was right.

“I don't know if I'd say it was 'fun', but... I'm glad we got to know each other, too.”

“See you again some other time?”

Akira smirked. “We'll see.”

And with that, Mara returned to being his mask. With Mara back in the sea of his heart, Akira saw the mess on the platform with different eyes and felt more responsible. He didn't know how long all that monster slime would stay there if he left it, but he didn't exactly have a way of cleaning it. On the bright side, even if they returned to that area with the others, a mysterious slime was something that could easily be excused in a place as strange as Mementos.

With a great yawn, Akira went back to the waiting booth. He got the feeling he should be quiet when he saw Yusuke wrapped up in his jacket, his chin tipped against his chest with his eyes closed, but he also knew that it wouldn't be good for them to stay there for too much longer. If Yusuke was that tired, then he could stay with him and sleep in the attic.

Careful not to disturb him, Akira moved the sketchbook from the seat next to Yusuke and sat down in its place. Sensing his presence, Yusuke's eyelashes fluttered and he grumbled before opening his eyes.

He looked around the booth blearily. “Oh dear... What time is it?”

“You weren't out for that long,” Akira assured. “If you want, now would be the time for us to go to the bathhouse. I could help you if you're too tired.” He enjoyed the idea of letting Yusuke fall asleep while he washed his back for him. And he didn't mind admitting to himself how much he enjoyed that idea.

A sleepy, vulnerable Yusuke who placed all of his trust in him...

Nice.

“Okay,” Yusuke mumbled.

Super nice.

Hopefully, once they made it back to the real world, Yusuke would be dressed in his normal clothes like he had been when they left. Akira didn't want to force him to put on his dirty Phantom Thief suit. It was soaking in goo.

But... What would happen to the goo? Like the slime on the platform, he didn't expect it to disappear. He still had sand in his shoes from Futaba's Palace.

“We're going to have to find a Metaverse dry cleaner.”

Yusuke leaned against him. “Did I hear you correctly? A dry cleaner?”

“Yep. That's our next date. Look forward to it.” It was a strange-sounding suggestion, but Akira was totally serious about it, and he was glad that Yusuke looked amused. “I don't know where we'll find one, but if this is just a world parallel to ours, then one must exist somewhere. We'll find it.”

“What if it's run by Shadows?” Yusuke asked. He was taking his serious idea very seriously.

Realistically speaking, it had to be run by Shadows unless they encountered more people like themselves. The cognitive landscape of the general public didn't seem to have cognitive duplicates like they found in Palaces.

In any case, Akira decided that he didn't have to keep thinking about it. They'd find out with their own eyes later.

Yusuke was still looking at him like he expected to hear an answer, so Akira gave him an appropriately leaderly answer. “If they're Shadows, we'll just beat 'em up and make 'em clean our clothes for free.”

Getting up, Akira grabbed Yusuke's sketchbook for him and offered him a hand which Yusuke gratefully accepted. Once he was on his feet, he stumbled slightly, but Akira caught him. It quickly evolved into a hug, his arms sliding down to Yusuke's waist. With just his long black jacket over his shoulders, Yusuke looked even thinner than usual.

With a face that pretty and a body that fragile, anyone would've felt an urge to protect him. Akira realized that the feelings that drew him to Yusuke weren't unique or special, nor were they something to feel guilty about. There were probably many people who would have been charmed by Yusuke's looks alone, who would have been willing to treat him like a prince in exchange for a smile. Akira knew they existed. He heard girls from Kosei talk about the handsome, eccentric loner...

But his feelings for Yusuke weren't that shallow. He worked hard to gain Yusuke's trust, and he cared about protecting that trust. Because he loved him.

 

...He heard a light snore.

 

“Don't fall asleep on me. I'll drop you.”

“You wouldn't drop me.”

After saying that, though, Yusuke didn't linger on him for much longer. He slipped out of his arms and wobbled out of the booth.

He stood waiting behind the yellow line.

“Let's go. Bath time,” he said.

Had they been in the real world, it would have looked like he was waiting for the train.

There was no telling where the rails of Mementos would take them, but they were bound to reach the end eventually. It was their goal. While helping others escape from that twisted place, while helping themselves, they would continue spiraling farther downward, following the tracks wherever they led. For his own reasons, Akira was afraid of what they might find at the end, but one of his greatest fears had already been discarded behind him.

“Earlier, those things you said about wanting someone who will take care of you, and being attracted to the idea of being confined... My mind's not playing tricks on me, right? You said all of that.”

Yusuke tipped his mask down and turned his face away. “I may have said something to that effect...”

Akira skipped over to his side and slipped his hand into Yusuke's, threading their fingers together snugly. After what they did together with Mara, it was funny to think that they had been so worried and embarrassed about something as harmless as their feelings.

Seeing the lingering blush on Yusuke's face made Akira smile.

With his past guilt no longer hanging over his heart like a cloud, Akira squeezed Yusuke's hand.


End file.
